Combined shipping is possible! EUROPEAN PREHISTORIC ARTIFACTS BY PALATINA AUTHENTICITY GUARANTEED! From the old collection Archives Prehistoric Europe! Wonderful Middle Paleolithic ( Paleolithic ) flake knife Homo Neanderthalensis - the Neanderthal ( Neandertal ) Man Mousterian phase about 40.000 - 60.000 years ago. The Mousterian industry appeared around 200,000 years ago and persisted until about 40,000 years ago, in much the same areas of Europe, the Near East and Africa where Acheulean tools appear. In Europe these tools are most closely associated with Homo neanderthalensis, but elsewhere were made by both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens. Mousterian tools required a preliminary shaping of the stone core from which the actual blade is struck off. The toolmakers either shaped a rock into a rounded surface before striking off the raised area as a wedge shaped flake (see photo at left), or they shaped the core as a long prism of stone before striking off triangular flakes from its length, like slices from a baguette. Because Mousterian tools were conceived as refinements on a few distinct core shapes, the whole process of making tools had standardized into explicit stages (basic core stone, rough blank, refined final tool). Variations in tool shapes could be produced by changes in the procedures at any stage. A consistent manufacturing goal was to increase as much as possible the cutting area on each blade. Though this made the toolmaking process more labor intensive, it also meant the edges of the tools could be reshaped or sharpened as they dulled, so that each tool lasted longer. The whole toolmaking industry had adapted to get the maximum utility from the labor invested at each step. Tool forms in the Mousterian industry display a wide range of specialized shapes. Cutting tools include notched flakes, denticulate (serrated) flakes, and flake blades similar to Upper Paleolithic tools. Points appear that seem designed for use in spears or lances, some including a tang or stub at the base that allowed the point to be tied into the notched end of a stick. Scrapers appear for the dressing of animal hides, which were probably used for shoes, clothing, bedding, shelter, and carrying sacks. These accumulating material possessions imply a level of social organization and stability comparable to primitive humans today. Because tools were combined with other components (handles, spear shafts) and used in wider applications (dressing hides, shaping wood tools, hunting large game), Mousterian technology was the keystone for many interrelated manufacturing activities in other materials: specialized tools created specialized labor. As these activities evolved and standardized, the efficient and flexible Mousterian toolmaking procedures made possible the accumulation of physical comforts on which wealth and social status are based. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis is the species name given to a homo specimens that inhabited Europe and the Middle East. In 1856 Johann Karl Fuhlrott, a teacher and amateur naturalist, first recognized the fossil called “Neanderthal man”, discovered in Neanderthal a valley near Mettmann in what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Homo Neanderthalensis is a distinctive form of archaic Homo sapiens, with a long, flat, braincase (capacity 1200–1750 ccm), a retreating frontal, heavy brow ridge, and a projecting face with a large nose. Contrary to early reconstructions, Neanderthals were fully upright, but had stocky, muscular body build. Fossil evidence indicates Neanderthal characters evolved slowly from the Homo Heidelbergensis about 500.000 years ago, but the full set of features only occur after 100.000 years ago as a result of adaptations to a cold climate. There is a particular concentration of finds in W Europe, where Neanderthals disappear ca. 33.000 years ago with the arrival of anatomically modern humans (H. sapiens sapiens); in SW Asia the two subspecies coexisted for c.60 000 years (100 000–40 000 years ago). Provenance is an old collection with finds from Western France. More details will follow the artifacts. I guarantee absolutely for the authenticity of this wonderful European artifact. Please view also my other auctions with relics from the European Prehistory. etope-lister